ChE328 Process Instrumentation and Control

Lecturer: Dr Qin Li (204:432), Dr Tonghua Zhang (204:523) Tutors: Faye Chong, Shahin Hosseini, Hongfei Fang Online teaching: Blackboard (informational) Textbook
Riggs, J B; Karim, M. Nazmul (2006) : Chemical and Bio-Process Control, 2nd Ed, Ferret Publishing, Texas, USA

References:
Marlin, T E (1995): Process Control Designing Processes and Control Systems for Dynamic Performance, McGraw-Hill, Inc. NY. Seborg, D E, Edgar, T F and Mellichamp, D A (1989): Process Dynamics and Control, John Wiley and Sons, NY. Luyben, W L (1990): Process Modeling, Simulation and Control for Chemical Engineers, McGraw-Hill Pub Co, NY. The MathWorks, Inc, (1995): Matlab Version 4 Users Guide, Student Edition, Prentice Hall.

Overview of Course Material

Control loop hardware (Chap 2) Dynamic modeling (Chap 3) Transfer functions and idealized dynamic behavior (Chap 4-6) PID controls (Chap 7-11) Advanced PID controls (Chap 12-14) Control of MIMO processes (Chap 15-18)

 ChE 328 Learning Outcomes:

Understanding and modelling of the transient behaviour of dynamic systems. Introduction to the theory and practice of automatic control. Introduction to the design and implementation of feedback control systems as well as the concept of closed-loop stability.

 CHE 326 Process Control (Detailed Unit Outline) Introduction (Week 1)

Introduction to process control Control objectives and benefits Economic justification of process control

Dynamic Modelling of Chemical Processes (Weeks 1, 2 and 3)

Uses of process models Process modelling principles Types of process models
State-space model Transform-domain model Frequency-response model Impulse-response model

Transfer function
Transfer function development Properties Block diagrams

Dynamic Behaviour of Ideal Systems (Weeks 4 and 5)

Concepts of poles and zeros Linear low order systems
Pure gain systems Pure capacity systems First order systems Lead/Lag systems

Linear higher order systems

First order systems in series Second order systems Nth-order systems Higher order systems with zeros

More complex systems

Inverse response systems Time delay systems Multi-input multi-output processes

Development of Dynamic Models from Experimental Data (Week 6)

Process identification Process reaction curve

Basic Components of Control Systems (Week 7)

Feedback controllers and PID control Control system instrumentation

Design of Single-loop Control Systems (Weeks 8 and 9)

Dynamic behaviour of closed-loop control systems Stability of closed-loop control systems Controller design based on transient response criteria

Controller Tuning Techniques (Weeks 10 and 11) Introduction to Frequency Response Analysis (Weeks 11 and 12)
Frequency response techniques Controller design using frequency response criteria

Fundamental Understanding and Industrially Relevant Skills

Fundamental Understanding Laplace tranforms and transfer functions (Ch 4,5) Idealized dynamic behavior (Ch 6) Frequency response analysis (Ch 11)

Industrially Relevant Skills Control hardware and troubleshooting (Ch 2&10) Controller Implementation and tuning (Ch 7-9)

 Constituents
Lectures Plant visit (TBA, middle of semester) Computer lab projects (Control Station, week3)

Assessment Details:
Assignments ( 3) 15% Project (Group Work) 15% Plant Visit 10% Test 10% (Week 7, 2009) Examination 50% Pass mark is 50% in all assessments

Chemical and Bio-Process Control

James B. Riggs, M. Nazmul Karim

Chapter 1 Introduction

Why do we learn Process Control as chemical engineers?

Whats going on in a chemical process? Mass balance Mass transfer Energy balance Mole balance Heat transfer Chemical Reaction Steady-state? or dynamic?

A Career in Process Control

Requires that engineers use all of their chemical engineering training (i.e., provides an excellent technical profession that can last an entire career) Can become a technical Top Gun Allows engineers to work on projects that can result in significant savings for their companies

A Career in Process Control

Provides professional mobility. There is a shortage of experienced process control engineers. Is a well paid technical profession for chemical engineers.

Critical Skill Set for a Process Control Engineer

Tune controllers. Make control design decisions: PI, PID, ratio, cascade, feedforward, or DMC. Troubleshoot control loops. Understand the terminology of the profession

Importance of Process Control for the CPI

PC directly affects the safety and reliability of a process. PC determines the quality of the products produced by a process. PC can affect how efficient a process is operated. Bottom Line: PC has a major impact on the profitability of a company in the CPI.

Safety and Reliability

The control system must provide safe operation
Alarms, safety constraint control, start-up and shutdown.

A control system must be able to absorb a variety of disturbances and keep the process in a good operating region:
Thunderstorms, feed composition upsets, temporary loss of utilities (e.g., steam supply), day to night variation in the ambient conditions

Benefits of Improved Control

Impurity Concentration

Old Controller
Limit

Time

Benefits of Improved Control

Impurity Concentration
Limit

Impurity Concentration

Old Controller

New Controller
Limit

Time

Time

Better Control Means Products with Reduced Variability

For many cases, reduced variability products are in high demand and have high value added (e.g., feedstocks for polymers). Product certification procedures (e.g., ISO 9000) are used to guarantee product quality and place a large emphasis on process control.

Benefits of Improved Control

Impurity Concentration
Limit

Impurity Concentration

Old Controller

New Controller
Limit

Time

Time

Impurity Concentration

Improved Performance
Limit

Time

Maximizing the Profit of a Plant

Many times involves controlling against constraints. The closer that you are able to operate to these constraints, the more profit you can make. For example, maximizing the product production rate usually involving controlling the process against one or more process constraints.

Importance of Process Control for the Bio-Process Industries

Improved product quality. Faster and less expensive process validation. Increased production rates.

Justification of Process Control

Specific objectives of process control increased product throughput increased yield of higher valued products decreased raw material cost decreased energy consumption decreased chance or excessive pollution decreased off-spec product safety extend life of equipment operability decreased production labour

What are in Process Control?

Driving a Car: An Everyday Example of Process Control

Driving a car
Control Objective (Setpoint): Maintain car in proper lane. Controlled variable- Location on the road Manipulated variable- Orientation of the front wheels Actuator- Drivers arms/steering wheel Sensor- Drivers eyes Controller- Driver Disturbance- Curve in road

Constraint Control The Shower Example

Degrees of freedom Constraints
Equipment constraints
- full off - full on - scalding limit (burning) - freeze limit - rinse limit - impingement limit

- hot tap - cold tap

Material constraints

 Objective function minimum electricity cost maximum scouring effectiveness

Where is the optimum operating point?

Control aspects measure exit water temperature Adjust COLD or HOT tap!!

Constraint Control Example

Consider a reactor temperature control example for which at excessively high temperatures the reactor will experience a temperature runaway and explode. But the higher the temperature the greater the product yield. Therefore, better reactor temperature control allows safe operation at a higher reactor temperature and thus more profit.

Heat Exchanger Control: ChE Control Example

Product Stream TT TC Steam

Feed Condensate

Heat Exchanger Control

Controlled variable- Outlet temperature of product stream Manipulated variable- Steam flow Actuator- Control valve on steam line Sensor- Thermocouple on product stream Disturbance- Changes in the inlet feed temperature

DO Control in a Bio-Reactor

Setpoint AC AT

Air Variable Speed Air Compressor

DO Control
Controlled variable- the measured dissolved O2 concentration Manipulated variable- air flow rate to the bio-reactor Actuator- variable speed air compressor Sensor- ion-specific electrode in contact with the broth in the bio-reactor Disturbance- Changes in the metabolism of the microorganisms in the bio-reactor

Logic Flow Diagram for a Feedback Control Loop

Disturbance

Setpoint

+-

Controller

c
Actuator

Process

CV

Sensor

Comparison of Driving a Car and Control of a Heat Exchanger

Actuator: Drivers arm and steering wheel vs. Control valve Controller: the driver vs. an electronic controller Sensor: the drivers eyes vs. thermocouple Controlled variable: cars position on the road vs. temperature of outlet stream

The key feature of all feedback control loops is that the measured value of the controlled variable is compared with the setpoint and this difference is used to determine the control action taken.

Process Control Concept and Conventions

Responsibility of Control System
Monitor process outputs by measurement Make decisions regarding corrective actions Implement decisions effectively on process

Type of Control Systems

Manual control systems (human operators) Automatic control system (computer control)

Standard Control System Structure

Typical Control Loop

Types of Feedback Controllers

On-Off Control- e.g., room thermostat Manual Control- Used by operators and based on more or less open loop responses PID control- Most commonly used controller. Control action based on error from setpoint (Chaps 6-8). Advanced PID- Enhancements of PID: ratio, cascade, feedforward (Chaps 9-11). Model-based Control- Uses model of the process directly for control (Chap 13).

Duties of a Control Engineer

Tuning controllers for performance and reliability (Chap 7) Selecting the proper PID mode and/or advanced PID options (Chap 6, 10-12) Control loop troubleshooting (Chap 2) Multi-unit controller design (Chap 14) Documentation of process control changes

Characteristics of Effective Process Control Engineers

Use their knowledge of the process to guide their process control applications. They are process control engineers. Have a fundamentally sound picture of process dynamics and feedback control. Work effectively with the operators.

Operator Acceptance
A good relationship with the operators is a NECESSARY condition for the success of a control engineer. Build a relationship with the operators based on mutual respect. Operators are a valuable source of plant experience. A successful control project should make the operators job easier, not harder.

Process Control and Optimization

Control and optimization are terms that are many times erroneously interchanged. Control has to do with adjusting flow rates to maintain the controlled variables of the process at specified setpoints. Optimization chooses the values for key setpoints such that the process operates at the best economic conditions.

Optimization and Control of a CSTR

Temperature Setpoint

Optimizer
Flow Setpoint

Temperature Controller

FC FT

Feed Steam
TT

Product

Optimization Example
ABC Mole balance on A : Q C A0 Q C A k1 exp[ E1 / RT ] C A Vr Solving for C A C A0 CA = k1 exp[ E1 / RT ]Vr 1+ Q Likewise, C B and CC are calculated from mole balances.

Economic Objective Function

= Q C A VA + Q C B VB + Q CC VC Q C A0 VAF
VB > VC, VA, or VAF At low T, little formation of B At high T, too much of B reacts to form C Therefore, there exits an optimum reactor temperature, T*

Optimization Algorithm
1. Select initial guess for reactor temperature 2. Evaluate CA, CB, and CC 3. Evaluate 4. Choose new reactor temperature and return to 2 until T* identified.

Graphical Solution of Optimum Reactor Temperature, T*

Process Optimization
Typical optimization objective function, : = Product values-Feed costs-Utility costs The steady-state solution of process models is usually used to determine process operating conditions which yields flow rates of products, feed, and utilities. Unit costs of feed and sale price of products are combined with flows to yield Optimization variables are adjusted until is maximized (optimization solution).

Generalized Optimization Procedure

Initial Estimate of Optimization Variables Optimization Variables Model Results Numerical Optimization Algorithm Economic Function Value Economic Function Evaluation Economic Parameters Optimum Operating Conditions

Process Model

Optimization and Control of a CSTR

Temperature Setpoint

Optimizer
Flow Setpoint

Temperature Controller

FC FT

Feed Steam
TT

Product

Control System Hardware Elements

Sensors (measuring devices or primary elements)
Thermocouple for temp measurements Differential pressure cells for liquid level measurements Gas/liquid chromoatographs for composition measurements Etc

Controllers (decision maker with built-in intelligence)

Pneumatic (operates on air signals) Electronic (common in industry) Digital computer (complex control operations)

Transmitters (process info transfer)

Final control elements (actually implement command signals on the process) Control valves (usually pneumatic) Variable speed fans Pumps and compressors Conveyors Relay switches

Other hardware elements

Transducers (signal transformations) A/D and D/A for computer control

Other control terminologies

Set-points (target value) Regulatory control Servo control Open-loop control (simple timing devices) Closed-loop control

Control System Symbols for Process and Instrumentation Diagrams

Sample Identification Letters

Symbol A C D E F I L M P T V First Letter Analysis Conductivity Density Voltage Flowrate Current Level Moisture (humidity) Pressure or Vacuum Temperature Viscosity Succeeding Letter Alarm Control

Indicate

Transmit Valve

Typical Actuator Symbols

Typical Sensor Symbols

Examples of Control Loops

Feedback Control Loop

Illustrative Example
Fresh A Feed Fresh B Feed
LC TC PT LC

Steam
TT TT LC TC

Steam C Product

Illustrative Example
(F )sp B
LS

Fresh A Feed

R/F

Fresh B Feed
S PC TC PT LC LC

Steam
TT TT LC TC

L/F Steam C Product

Overview
All feedback control loops have a controller, an actuator, a process, and a sensor where the controller chooses control action based upon the error from setpoint. Control has to do with adjusting flow rates to maintain controlled variables at their setpoints while for optimization the setpoints for certain controllers are adjusted to optimize the economic performance of the plant.

Pneumatic Controllers - Phase I

Introduced in the 1920s Installed in the field next to the valve Use bellows, baffles, and nozzles with an air supply to implement PID action. Provided automatic control and replaced manual control for many loops

Pneumatic Controllers - Phase II

Transmitter-type pneumatic controllers began to replace field mounted controllers in the late 1930s. Controllers located in control room with pneumatic transmission from sensors to control room and back to the valve. Allowed operators to address a number of controllers from a centralized control room.

Pneumatic Controller Installation

F1 T1 3-15 psig F2 T2 Thermowell T Air Thermocouple millivolt signal 3-15 psig Air Transmitter

Tsp

Pneumatic Controller

Electronic Analog Controllers

Became available in the late 1950s. Replaced the pneumatic tubing with wires. Used resistors, capacitors, etc. to implement PID action. Out sold pneumatic by 1970. Allowed for advanced PID control: ratio, feedforward, etc.

Analog Controller Installation

F1 T1 3-15 psig Air 4-20 ma Thermocouple millivolt signal Tsp Electronic Analog Controller 4-20 ma F2 T2 Thermowell T I/P

Transmitter

Computer Control System

Based upon a mainframe digital computer. Offered the ability to use data storage and retrieval, alarm functions, and process optimization. First installed on a refinery in 1959. Had reliability limitations.

Supervisory Control Computer

Video Display Unit Alarming Functions Printer

Supervisory Control Computer

Analog Control Subsytem

Interfacing Hardware

Data Storage Acquisition System

...

Distributed Control System- DCS

Introduced in the late 1970s. Based upon redundant microprocessors for performing control functions for a part of the plant. SUPERIOR RELIABILITY Less expensive per loop for large plants. Less expensive to expand. Facilitates use of advanced control.

DCS Architecture
System Consoles Host Computer Data Storage Unit PLC

Data Highway (Shared Communication Facilities)

Local Console

Local Control Unit

..............

Local Control Unit

Local Console

Process Transmitters and Actuators

Current Approach
DCSs in wide use and continuing to replace analog controllers. Model predictive control, particularly DMC, is the standard for advanced control with over 3000 applications world-wide. DMC is used to control multi-unit processes while maximizing the process throughput, i.e., controlling against limiting constraints.

DMC
DMC is a multivariable controller. DMC uses step response models, i.e., it can model complex dynamics. It is a time horizon controller, i.e., it predicts process behavior in to the future.

Multivariable Controller
G11(s) G21(s) G12(s) u2 y2(s)

+ +

u1

y1(s)

y1,sp y2,sp Multivariable Controller

+ +

G22(s)

Time Horizon Controller

Past Behavior Setpoint

Future Prediction -10 -5 0 Time 5 10

Future Inputs

Pas t Inputs -10 -5 0 Time 5 10

Process Optimisation
Determine the set of setpoints for the controllers that maximise profit Optimisation is now where process control was 20 years ago Larger applications (e.g., refinery-wide optimisation) are on the horizon Enterprise-wide optimisation is in the future.